The Bet
by Buni-San
Summary: Lucy lost her apartment, and Natsu's bet against Gray to see who could complete 100 missions first and pay for her new house sounded like a good idea at the time, but hopefully Erza and Lucy will keep them in line while doing so! NaLu, GrayJub, 100 theme!
1. 4: Rivalry

Okay... Well, I guess I'll have to explain myself first.

You see, I've been wanting to do a 30 kisses or 100 themes kind of thing for Natsu and Lucy for a while now. Fortunately or Unfortunately-- however you look at it-- Meirou Kitsune came out with her own 100 themes kind of thing for Natsu and Lucy too, called 'Controlled Chaos', I believe. Anyways, reading hers just got me off my butt to do my own. _I'm not, in any way, taking her idea._

I'm pretty sure we have two different sets of 100 themes too.

Also,** I don't belong to any LJ community**.

Anyways, without further ado, I present to you... The Bet!

* * *

**Title:** The Bet

**Authoress:** Buni-San

**Disclaimer:** I Don't own Fairy Tail.

**Theme: **#4 Rivalry

**Fandom:** Fairy Tail

**Pairing:** Natsu Lucy

**Rating:** T

* * *

"It was all _your_ fault and you know it, _Pinky_!"

"What'd you say, _Streaker_?!"

"You heard me you eternal flamer!"

"This was all _your_ fault you frost bitten _popsicle_!"

"Don't you _dare_ try to blame me! I'll kick your ass!"

"You wanna fight?!"

"Hell yeah, asshole!"

Mirajane felt a bead of sweat fall down the back of her head when the loud crashing noises and random flying pieces of broken furniture started to fly, as usual when Natsu and Gray started up with their bickering. The silver haired model turned her attention to the left when she heard a heavy sigh, and blinked when she saw Lucy lying miserably against the bar, clutching her drink in her hand as though it would fly off if she let go.

Before Mirajane could ask what happened, Erza broke the front doors down, covered almost head to toe in bandages and armor, making a beeline straight towards the squabbling mages. Even more screaming, crashes and broken furniture started to fly, before Erza threw the next-to-nude exhibitionist and the half-frozen fire mage against the counter of the bar, almost breaking it with their impact.

The blood thirsty titania had gave off such a presence of malice and loathing it was almost palpable.

"You two..." She snarled, grabbing the now terrified boys by their hair, lifted them up, and proceeded to shove their faces harshly against the surface of the bar. Lucy didn't even flinch, giving off another depressed sigh when her glass cracked. Erza ignored their yelps and cries of pain, and made sure to hold their faces down while sliding them closer towards Mirajane. "Apologize to her and the master for you're disgusting failure!" She ordered.

Instantly, the two started to beg and plead for forgiveness and mercy.

Mirajane blinked, turning her head towards Master Marcov, who looked equally perplexed.

"Don't you know?" Lucy drawled, staring at her glass. When the waitress and the elder shook their heads in the negative, the blond almost immediately burst into tears. "We failed our last mission!" She cried, burying her head in her arms, sobbing loudly.

The mummy-esque warrior lifted her half bandaged head, glaring down at the still sniveling boys under her fierce grip. "Lucy had been pressed for rent money, and asked us if we could help her out on a mission to get it paid. After all, when all of us pair together, we've never failed a mission-- _until now_!"

Natsu and Gray stopped their groveling, barley managing to turn their faces towards one another in Erza's grasp. "It was _Gray's_ fault! If he hadn't frozen the _whole lake_--!"

"_My_ fault?! _You're_ the one who decided it would be _funny_ to set the stupid _boat _on_ fire_!"

Immediately, they began to struggle under Erza's grip, flailing their legs it attempt to kick one another. Erza felt one of them kick one of her many well dressed wounds, her hair almost seemed to float in the ominous aura of pure poison she let off.

The titania had finally had enough. "_Be quiet_!"

They instantly shut up.

Mirajane felt the need to change the subject as quickly as possible before the town hospital ended up being torn down by these three. She had a feeling a few bones were going to be broken soon if things kept up. "We have _plenty_ of jobs right now... almost too many actually!" She tried, gesturing towards the request board, which indeed had flyers taped to the wall where room ran out on the actual designated area.

Lucy let out a loud sob. "But it's too late! I've _already_ lost my apartment!"

Mirajane and Marcov looked positively shocked. "What?!" They demanded together.

Erza seemed to grind the words out, while grinding Natsu and Gray's heads into the counter even further. Every syllable leaving a new crack in the polished wood. "The rent was due last _week_. We've been gone for a _month_!"

Lucy let go of her arms, clutching onto an ever pleasant blue cat when he offered her his condolence. "Aye. We got back and her stuff was all sitting on the street." Lucy's crying only seemed to grow louder at the admission.

Mirajane and Marcov scrambled for a quick and hopefully easy solution. "How about you four just team up for another--"

"_NO_!!" They all shouted, for once agreeing on something.

"There's no _way_ I'm _ever_ working with _this_ bastard again!" Gray cried, spitting cold saliva towards Natsu's forehead.

It evaporated in the breath of fire the dragon slayer shot out before it even hit. "Same goes for me! It'll be a cold day in _Hell_ before _that_ happens!"

Erza smashed their heads together, leaving them dizzy and half knocked out before backing off. "You don't have a choice in the matter! This is for _Lucy_, or were you two so busy being _brats_ you _forgot_ that?!"

Lucy seemed to quiet down at that, though still sniffing. "Erza... I-It's fine, I can--"

"No!" Marcov cut off, his pipe bouncing sharply in his mouth with the movement of his mouth.

Instantly he was met with a tense silence, followed shortly by guilty looks from the three strongest mages. They looked little more than children caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"We...We _wanna_ help Lucy and all..." Gray started.

"But there's just no way you two will stop _fighting_ long enough to even _finish_ a mission!" Erza snapped, crossing her arms under her buxom chest.

Mirajane, along with the four upset mages and one cat, turned towards the Master when he only gave a sharp laugh. "So split up and do it! There are plenty missions to chose from!"

You could almost see the fire in Natsu's eyes as he jumped up, determinedly clenching a fist. "That's a great idea! I bet I could get all the money by _myself _before Gray or Erza could!" He laughed, earning himself frosty glares from the redhead and the ice alchemist.

"_What_ was that?!" Gray snapped, quickly scrambling to his feet. "There's no _way_! I'd get ten missions done and enough money for Lucy to rent an apartment for a _year_ before you managed to get a job done right even _once_!"

"Why don't you try backing that up, eh?! Streaker!"

"I _will _you little firefly! Just _watch_!" Gray growled. "I can have a _hundred_ missions finished before you! Hands down!"

Natsu took a step back, steam jutting out of his nose as he pointed an indignant finger in his rivals face. "It's a challenge then! You and Erza against me and Lucy! The first team to successfully accomplish one hundred missions first and pays for a new apartment for Lucy, wins! The loser has to admit defeat and kiss the winner's _feet_!" He cried, puffing his chest out in confidence. Markov and Mirajane began to sweat.

All of them were so proud they'd up and _die_ before having to do something so demeaning.

"_What_?! Why do _I _have to be teamed up with Erza?!" Gray demanded, fearing for his life when the particularly vicious ex-quip mage gave a feral grin.

"I like it! Me and Gray together... You'll have no _chance_!" She laughed, slapping Gray on the back and slamming him down into the ground with the hit.

Natsu gave a loud snort. "Yeah right! We'll have enough money by the time we're done to buy Lucy a _house_!"

Happy jumped up, excited by the idea. "Aye!"

Gray shot back up to his feet, shoving his face right into Natsu's. "_Please_! It'd take you a hundred missions just to get _half_--"

Natsu ground his forehead against his part-time best-friend, part-time mortal-enemy. His eyes narrowed and veins bulging in annoyance. "We start tomorrow!" They shouted together, spinning on their heals and storming away. Erza gave a cluck of her tongue before grunting and leaving the guild, her wounds needing to be checked by the doctors once again.

Natsu, steam still poring from his nose and ears, made sure to grab Lucy and Happy and sling the shocked blonde over his shoulder before taking off. "C'mon! You're coming with me!" He snapped, ignoring the cat calls he was getting by the other mages as he passed by.

Lucy's face was so red she thought it'd explode-- desperately trying to keep her short skirt from revealing anything. "W-Where the hell _too_?! Put me _down_ already!" She shouted, biting down on her friend's shoulder, as her hands were occupied.

Natsu didn't even flinch. "Where else? To my apartment! We just got back this morning and you don't have anywhere else to go! Gray's a naked pervert, Erza's not home and Levi's out of town with Jet and Droy! Where _else_ are you going to stay?!" He grouched, quickly turning a corner and heading in the opposite direction Lucy normally turned to go to her old apartment.

The stellar spirit mage looked almost horrified. "_What_?! You can't just-- What about-- Natsu I _can't_!"

He snorted, hardly convinced. "And why _not_?!"

Lucy gave a strangled scream, wracking her brain for a good excuse that'll leave her sleeping on the streets. After a long silence, the well-endowed blonde sighed impatiently and slumped against the pink headed fire mage. "I-It's _improper_!" She finally shot out, blushing horridly. She hadn't even been to his apartment before! Well... she hadn't been to anyone else's apartment before either, now that she thought about it.

"_Ha! _That's the best you can come up with? If that's the extent of your imagination I'm _never_ gonna wanna read that book of yours." He grinned, almost dropping her when Lucy said 'to Hell' with modesty clocked him upside the head.

"You _jerk_! _Let me go_! I can walk on my own!" She growled, screaming when he did just that and dumped her on her butt. "_Ow_! What'd you do that for--?!"

"We're here!" Happy said as he ran past her and through the wooden door just as Natsu opened it.

Lucy blinked, staring up at the, oddly, not half-burnt down cave she had half-imagined he lived in. Instead, it was a pleasant surprise of being an apartment that looked even larger than her own had been. Stone brick walls, a nice sized window and a plant or two sitting in their sills... it looked almost... normal.

Not something she had expected.

"C'mon Lucy, you coming in or not?" He snapped, holding the door open and staring down at her with a devious grin. The blonde shot him a hot glare and quickly stood up-- flattening down her clothes and with her head held high, she took the first step in.

She almost fell over at what she saw.

_Typical_. It wasn't burnt, but it was still trashed.

Lucy's eye twitched, looking around at the piles of clothes, work-out equipment, random camping gear, empty cans of food and overall trash that littered what looked like every inch of floor there was. It just _screamed_ fire hazard. Not something a guy like Natsu would want to keep. Slowly, her eyes traveled over a disgustingly tall pile of junk she assumed that in the past might have been a couch... or table of some sort. There was no _way_ she was sleeping on that.

She felt a warm arm sling around her shoulder the same time Happy jumped up into her arms. "Make yourself at home, Lucy!" They cried together, grinning.

The ex-princess felt a shudder if dread wash over, before it was washed away with a smile and a sense of peace. She did have great friends... even if they _were_ insane.

"Thanks guys..."

* * *

...And that's it for this chapter!

Bet you can't wait to see what happens next, _hmmmmmm_?

**I need a beta for this story, if anyone is interested, please send me a PM!**

If I spelled or got anything worng, please let me know so I can fix it ASAP!


	2. 31: Colors

**Title:** The Bet

**Disclaimer:** I Don't own Fairy Tail

**Theme: **#31 Colors

**Fandom:** Fairy Tail

**Pairing:** Natsu x Lucy

**Rating: **T

* * *

Gray knew something was wrong when Natsu didn't kick down the guild doors, shouting and screaming about being hungry, wanting a mission, or challenging him to a fight. The more obvious point to the ice mage's deduction was that when Natsu _did_ arrive-- well after noon-- the pink-headed spit-fire was tired, and in the company of none other than Lucy.

Gray rose an eyebrow at that.

"What wrong with him?" Erza asked, nodding her jaw at Natsu's pathetic being as he dropped his head against the wood of the guild tables.

Lucy crossed her arms. "I made him stay up all night long cleaning that science experiment he called a home."

Natsu let out a miserable groan at the memory.

Gray snorted, pushing himself up from his seat with a grin. "Well isn't this convenient?" He whistled, heading over to the mission board. "First day of this shitty contest and me and Erza get a head start!"

The titania shot the exhibitionist a dark glare. "That's not fair, we can't start if he's like this. It would leave Lucy to do everything!"

Gray spun around on his heal, ignoring the sudden visions of a painful and bloody death. "Like it's my fault! _Natsu_ is the one who set the terms and everything! He should've known to-- wait a minute."

Lucy paled a bit when Erza and Gray suddenly zeroed in on her. "...Wh-What?" She asked, sweating uncomfortably.

Erza pushed Gray's head away, knocking him clear across the table and right into the exhausted Natsu. The redhead stared intently at Lucy, growing an odd blush. "You... What were you doing at Natsu's house?"

Lucy nearly had a heart attack when Erza brought a hand up to her mouth, as though covering up a gasp. The stellar spirit mage immediately grabbed her friend's head, eyes only inches away from hers. "If anything in your head is remotely perverted, forget it."

It was said with such a dead calmness even Erza was almost scared.

Almost.

She wasn't, of course, because she was Erza.

Erza didn't get scared.

Ever.

She was the one that inflicted terror onto others.

Instead, she grew curious.

Very, very curious.

Which, admittedly, was a very, very scary thing.

Erza pressed on. "What about... _'romantic'_?"

"No." Lucy said firmly, releasing her friend's head. "Not in a _million_ years."

The titania pouted.

Gray groaned as he picked himself up, shouting in pain when Natsu shoved the mysteriously half-naked jerk off of his stomach. "I was _nice_ enough to let Lucy stay at my house, and she turns me into a slave..."

Lucy's face burned red when the fire-breathing jerk stuck his tongue out at her. "Slave?! You had _mold_ on your couch!"

"It was just grass! It grows through the cracks in the walls every once and a while!"

Lucy almost fell over. She quickly righted herself. "It was _purple_!"

"It was hippie grass?" He asked, shrugging.

Natsu blinked, suddenly having four pairs of eyes on him.

Even Happy couldn't help but stare.

Natsu glared back.

"What?"

* * *

Not much for the chapter so many have been waiting so long for, but I'll have more out soon.


	3. 68: Unsettling Revelations

**Title:** The Bet

**Disclaimer:** I Don't own Fairy Tail

**Theme: #**68 Unsettling Revelations

**Fandom:** Fairy Tail

**Pairing:** Natsu x Lucy

**Rating:** T

* * *

Natsu and Gray stiffly shifted in their seats across from one another at one of the wooden tables of the guild. Their eyes were narrowed, veins protruding on their foreheads and teeth grinding in annoyance.

On the table between them was a single sheet of paper.

Natsu lifted his nose in the air, bearing his fangs noticeably as he spoke. "So you think you're gonna take that mission, eh?"

Gray turned his head to the side, eyes narrowing even further. "Eeeh? You think you can handle it? Don't make me laugh you little firefly."

Natsu leaned a bit closer to the teen across from him, eyebrows knitting up in agitation. "Eeeeh? What makes you think you can handle it, frost-bite?"

"Eeeeeh?"

"Eeeeeeh?"

The two were cut off from their bickering when each had the back of their heads smacked by their female partners. Unfortunately for Gray, he almost broke his nose against the impact of the table that came soon after.

Lucy put her hands on her hips, glaring down at Natsu, who didn't even bother to show if she had managed to hurt him in the slightest. Instead, he pointed while laughing maniacally at Gray's discomfort. "Hey!" She finally snapped, smacking the back of his head again.

Natsu turned to glare at the blonde. "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeh?"

Lucy smacked him again. "Knock it off."

The fire mage snorted and reached out to snatch the mission slip on the table, his face falling back into its mobster-esque vision of annoyance when Gray grabbed the paper at the same time.

"So we meet again, eh? Sparky." Gray growled.

Natsu lifted his nose again. "It must be fate, eeh? Birthday-Suit-Boy."

"Eeeeeeh?"

"Eeeeeeeh?"

Erza and Lucy rolled their eyes.

"What's so special about this mission anyways?" Erza asked, leaning over so she could read the details. Her face started to twitch more and more uncontrollably the more she read.

Lucy rose an eyebrow, leaning over Natsu's shoulder to read the details as well.

She paled, sweat falling off her face in small rivers.

"B-… _Baby-sitting_?!"

Happy chose that moment to fly up to Lucy's eye-level. "Look at the pay." He chirped.

She did.

Lucky for Lucy, Natsu was ignoring Gray just enough to catch her when she fainted. Erza blinked, leaning over to check the pay. She suddenly felt weak in the knees at the sight of all the zeros. "…Oh…my…"

Lucy suddenly jumped to her feet, the mission slip in her hands and jewel-signs in her eyes before anyone could even blink. "It's perfect!"

Erza and Gray gave twin expressions of unadulterated annoyance. "Wait just a minute!" They cried together. "Why should _you_--!"

Lucy held up a finger, grinning cutely at them. "I do believe its fair that I get to chose the first mission, since I was the one who lost her apartment and has to live with them." She said, face falling deadpan when she pointed to Natsu and Happy. "With. Them."

Gray and Erza grit their teeth, but nodded in defeat.

The smile Lucy shot them was just _dazzling_. "I knew you'd see it my way!"

Natsu crossed his arms over his chest, feeling insulted.

"It was _grass_, damnit."

* * *

Lucy all but skipped down the road, the mission slip in hand and bag stuffed to the brim on her back. Natsu walked next to her, happy napping on the top of his own overly packed bag. It was early morning, and the first day on their long journey to their first mission in the bet.

"I wonder why it's so far away?" Lucy wondered aloud, turning her head towards Natsu.

He shrugged through a yawn. "It can't be that far."

Lucy sweat-dropped. "Natsu…" She began.

The rose-haired fire mage turned to her, his face reflecting his curiosity.

"…It'll take three days just to get there."

Natsu turned his head to the side. "What's your point?" He asked.

The stellar-spirit mage deadpanned. "It'll take three days to get there… by _train_." It took all of three seconds before the gears turned in Natsu's head, and Lucy's words finally sunk in.

He fainted with foam at the mouth and his face contorted in pure horror.

* * *

O.o Its amazing I managed to update twice in so short an amount of time.

I blame being sick.

...And guilty for taking so long to update, heheh...

Review and let me know what you think!


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